Boats, beaches and brews

Well I didn’t quite manage the not drinking theory, but was pretty close – only a two or three beers at the Backpacker’s Place bar and home before midnight.  Positively teetotal by current standards.

We’d booked on Mama Linh’s boat tour for the following day – a trip that goes out around several of the islands offshore from Nha Trang and costs all of $8 US.  Lonely Planet billed it pretty much as a party cruise, an assessment I’m not sure that I agree with – there were other boats out there looking a lot more party like than ours, especially in the first few hours.    Things loosened up considerably after the free fruit wine at the floating bar, strangely enough.  Still, plenty of good stuff to enjoy, especially the hour or so of snorkelling at a marine sanctuary off Hon Mun island.  Incredible colours and variety of both fish and coral, in those warm and crystal clear waters … ahhhh.  It was brilliant.  Shame I don’t have a waterproof case for my camera really.

Lunch was tasty and plentiful – prawns, a Vietnamese stew, fish,  noodles, rice and all sorts.  Washed down with a cold can of Tiger or two.  They did cost nearly $1.50 though, so y’know, it’s not all beer and skittles.  Oh wait.  Actually it is.  The ‘entertainment’ was next, with a few crew members rolling out drums, guitar and a microphone and launching into a karaoke session with songs from various people’s countries.  I thought this was going to be tragic, and it kinda was, but it was impressive to see how many countries the guys could pull out songs for.  Fortunately (for everyone I’m sure) the Kiwi contingent weren’t pulled up on stage – I’m not sure what our song would have been, maybe a haka?  Or something from Flight of the Conchords?

The floating bar was a highlight for sure – diving off the top of the boat, grabbing a life preserver and floating around a guy sitting on a little pontoon handing out little glasses of fruit wine.  Hilarious, especially after the first few wines – that stuff is strong!

The rest of the boat trip was actually more land based – some time on a beach and a trip to a fish farm (which we passed on in favour of a beer at a waterside bar) before heading back to Nha Trang in the late afternoon.  We’d met up with an English guy named Andy on the cruise so arranged to go out for a drink with him in the evening.  Got caught in a massive thunderstorm while looking for Mama Love bar (sorry Todd, we couldn’t track it down before the rain hit…) so enjoyed a few bia hoi’s at a tiny sidewalk ‘bar’ before catching a cab to the Sailing Club just in time for happy hour.  The place turned into a nightclub after that and having consumed a few beers and vodka cocktail buckets, obviously it would have been rude not to join in.  There were a great bunch of people there, both foreigners and locals, and though Deano and Andy flagged a bit earlier, I didn’t manage to get home til around 1.30 this morning.  Had a wicked – albeit very sweaty – time!

And today we achieved – very little.  Organised some onward tickets to Hoi An for Sunday morning, then caught up with Andy again and spent the rest of the day at the beach.  No beer so far, but I’m sure there’ll be dinner and drinks at some stage in the next few hours …

It’s a hard knock life … for me … it’s a hard knock life … for me ……